Chapman and Ropers-Huilman receive 2014 Fulbright Awards

In spring 2014 David Chapman will be traveling to Malaysia and Rebecca Ropers-Huilman will be appointed in Vienna, Austria. Joan DeJaeghere, a 2013 Fulbright Scholar, is currently undertaking a study in Vietnam.

David Chapman, Birkmaier Professor of Educational Leadership, has been selected as a Fulbright Scholar to Malaysia for February-May, 2014. He has received a research fellowship to undertake a study titled, Academic Staff in Malaysia: Individual and Institutional Responses to a Changing Workplace.

Higher education in Malaysia is undergoing profound changes due to rapid enrollment growth, new work demands on faculty and intensified financial pressures on the universities themselves. Dr. Chapman will be interviewing faculty members from universities across Malaysia, looking at the changing nature of faculty work and the implication of those changes for the career trajectory, institutional commitment, and job satisfaction of faculty members at Malaysian colleges and universities. While the primary activity of his Fulbright will be this study, he will also be serving as a guest speaker in courses and seminars in Malaysian universities.

Rebecca Ropers-Huilman, professor, has been selected as a Fulbright Scholar to Vienna, Austria for March-July, 2014. She will be appointed to the Institute for Science Communication and Higher Education Research with the University of Klagenfurt where she will be doing scholarly work focused on Understanding Gender in the Transformation of Austrian University Education.

Dr. Ropers-Huilman will conduct research on how gender equity is implemented and negotiated in higher education institutions in Austria; teach classes and interact with students, colleagues, administrators, and policy makers to engage in mutual learning about organizational change toward equity; and seek ongoing professional relationships to enhance the capacity of both the Institute and the University of Minnesota to facilitate outstanding experiences for students and faculty at both institutions.

Joan Dejaeghere, associate professor, was selected as a 2013 Fulbright Scholar and is currently in Vietnam undertaking a study titled Enabling and Constraining Conditions to Implementing Policies Addressing Educational Inequalities in Vietnam. See full news item here.

Director of international initiatives and relations Chris Johnstone and CEHD chief financial officer Ryan Warren were selected for short Fulbright programs in 2012: Warren in the Chief Financial Officers Program, Germany; Johnstone in the International Education Administrators Program, India.

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to "increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries." With this goal as a starting point, the Fulbright Program has provided almost 310,000 participants -- chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential -- with the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.